Daily advice to travellers concerned about the impacts of coronavirus

Updates for our customers on coronavirus (COVID-19) - Last updated 5th June 2020 with daily updates Monday to Friday.

Conditions can vary every day and are only valid until further updates on our websites (as per train operators daily updates).

Many of our teams are working from home, following governments’ recommendations. Our primary concern, at the moment, therefore, is to preserve the health of our employees and local communities. If this means that our customer service has slowed down, we hope you will understand.

RAIL EUROPE ARE CURRENTLY PRIORITIZING CUSTOMERS WITH TRAVEL WITHIN 7 DAYS, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR AFTER SALES ENQUIRY USING THE LINKS BELOW AND WE WILL ACTION YOUR REQUEST ASAP.

Special cancellation conditions

These terms are subject to change at any time. We will continue to evaluate the situation.

We understand it will not be possible to always return paper tickets at the moment. If this is not possible for you please take a photo/scanned copy of the ticket and attach this to your submission via the After Sales portal . Please note that paper tickets MUST be returned before any physical money can be refunded however we can start the process with the scanned copy.

Note that parcels can only be received if sent using the following:

Australia Post serviceincluding Registered Post, Star Track, Express Post (note that Express Post is not traceable) or NZ Couriers. All other items will be returned to sender. If this is not possible please hold the tickets until our office reopens and normal deliveries are available.

When will I receive my refund?

All refund requests are processed in order of departure date. We are generally processing refunds within 7 days of departure, which gives you a rough estimate as to when you should hear back from us. The refund itself might take 3-6 months to be paid out as we need to wait for the train operator to transfer the funds back to us.

Europe

SNCF TGV trains (including Lyria and TER, excluding France-Spain)

Full refunds for travel until 31st August* 2020

Full refunds or exchanges are offered to all customers who want to postpone or cancel their travel on TGV, Intercité, TER, TGV Lyria and other international TGV services, excluding France-Spain (see below)

For journeys up until 24 June, the refund request must be made by 25 May.

For journeys between 25 June – 31 August, the refund request must be made prior to travel.

TGV France-Spain

France-Spain TGV tickets, for travel up until 24 June 2020, are exchangeable and refundable at no extra charge. Exchange requests must be submitted prior to travel, and if the new fare is more expensive, the customer pays the price difference. Refund requests can be submitted up to three months after the original travel date.

Deutsche Bahn trains

Full exchange for travel until 31 October 2020

DB offers a free exchange of all tickets to travel up until 31 October 2020 as long as the tickets were booked by 13 March 2020.

“FREE EXCHANGE” – no additional action prior to travel needs to be performed, the onboard staff is informed of this action and so long as the customer is travelling the same route and class the ticket is valid.

If no exchange is required then normal T&C’s will apply or an insurance letter can be provided.

A full exceptional refund is available if travel was booked prior to the 13th March for travel until 4th May.

Eurostar trains

Eurostar offers a free exchange of all tickets, in the form of a voucher, for journeys between 13 March and 01 August 2020. You can apply directly on Eurostar’s website.

Eurostar will offer you an eVoucher equivalent to the full value of your current Eurostar train booking. Your eVoucher will be valid for 12 months from date of issue to travel to any Eurostar destination (subject to availability).Please note that you do not have to travel before the expiry date on your voucher, you simply need to book your new journey before your voucher expires. You can make a booking up to six months in advance on most of the Eurostar routes meaning you can travel up until late 2021. Note the voucher is not issued to a specific person, whoever has the voucher number can use it to book a Eurostar service, it does not need to be the original traveller.

To claim your voucher you will be asked for a six letter reference. This IS NOT your Rail Europe booking number, this booking reference can be found on your e-ticket and is a series of 6 letters. Please use the lead passenger name on your booking.

Helpful Tip: Take note of your PNR reference as this will be your Euorstar Voucher reference. Your Eurostar voucher will not have any reference to your Rail Europe booking number.

ATOC - UK Trains

Full refunds for travel within 56 days of travel.Claims must be submitted prior to the travel date.

Off Peak and Anytime tickets for all UK journeys can be refunded at no additional cost if purchased before 17 March 2020, at 07.00 hrs, for travel on or after 17 March 2020. Claims must be submitted within 56 days of the travel date.

Advance tickets for all UK journeys can be refunded at no additional cost if purchased before 23 March 2020, at 07.00 hrs, for travel on or after 23 March 2020. Claims must be submitted prior to the travel date.These policies are in effect until further notice

Italo trains

Full refunds via exchange voucher for travel until 13 June 2020

Italo offers a free exchange of all tickets for journeys up to 13 June 2020, in the form of a voucher which is valid for one year. You can apply on Italo’s website which takes you directly to their claim form until the 30th May. Select the category “Refund for health emergency 2020”. Please use the PNR voucher found on your original ticket, not your Rail Europe booking reference to claim your voucher.

In case of requests for multiple journeys, it is necessary to open a different ticket for each journey, indicating the specific train number in each. Multiple passengers can be filed at the same time for each journey.

Trenitalia trains

Full refunds if submitted by 26th June 2020

Full refund for all customers opting out of travel for reasons associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Requests are to be submitted by the 26th June 2020. This also applies to Eurocity Italy-Switzerland. For Italy-Austria trains, tickets valid until 01 May 2020 are refunded free of charge. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

Renfe

Full refunds for travel until 31 August 2020

Full refund or exchange for all customers wanting to opt out of travel. Valid for all travel until 31 August 2020. Exchange or cancellation of tickets must be done prior to travel dates. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

Swiss Travel System (STS)

Full refunds until one day prior to the first day of travel

Tickets are fully refundable if cancellation is done until one day prior to the first day of travel. All other requests will be handled case by case. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

Thalys trains

All Thalys tickets for journeys between 10 March - 17 May 2020 are exchangeable or refundable without an additional charge, if the request is made within 30 days after the travel date. For journeys 18 May - 11 July 2020: if the train is running, tickets are exchangeable (same route, same class) and refundable if requested up to 30 days prior to the travel date. If the train is cancelled, tickets will be refundable if a refund request is made up to 30 days after the travel date. In this case the tickets will be exchangeable over a period of one year from the date of the original trip (same route, same class).

Eurail passes

All travellers who purchased their passes on or after 01 June 2019 and before 01 April 2020 are automatically entitled to an additional 12 month extension of original validity period, as printed on the pass. No exchange is required. (This gives you an additional 12 months from the time the pass was originally due to EXPIRE!) You do not need to do anything else and may activate your pass up to 12 months after the “Must be activated before” date on your Pass at a train station in Europe.

Only in the event of a passenger's age change, making them unable to qualify for a standard extension of their current pass validity, regular and promo passes can be fully refunded.

Full refunds are being offered on (non-promotion) Eurail passes. Travellers who have bought a promotional price pass are entitled to an 85% refund. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

The normal deadline for exchanging or refunding your pass has also been extended, so you can request an exchange or refund up until May 1, 2021.

Your physical pass must be received at a Rail Europe office before a refund can be granted.

BritRail passes

Full refunds

Full refunds are being offered on all BritRail passes. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

Travellers who have bought a promotional price pass are entitled to an 85% refund. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

You have 11 months from the time of issue to apply for a refund. Your physical pass must be received at a Rail Europe office before a refund can be granted.

Other passes

Full refunds

Most other passes are 100% refundable if unused. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

You have 11 months from the time of issue to apply for a refund. Your physical pass must be received at a Rail Europe office before a refund can be granted.

Open tickets

Full refunds

All open tickets are fully refundable. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

USA and Japan

Amtrak (USA)

Full refunds before departure date

Full refunds are possible for all journeys booked by August 31 regardless of the travel date. You can apply under the After Sales portal on the website.

Passengers are considered no-shows if they don’t cancel fares before TTD, even if their train is cancelled, we suggest applying for refunds on all bookings not required.

JTB - Japan Rail Passes

Full refunds

Full refund if the Rail Europe Coupon has not been exchanged for a Japan Rail Pass. Rail Europe Coupon must be returned within 1 year from the date of issue. . You can apply under the After Sales portal.

Your physical pass must be received at a Rail Europe office before a refund can be granted.

Sightseeing and transport (Viator)

Full refunds for travel until 31st May 2020

The ‘Standard Cancellation Policy’ offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before. This covers the vast majority of Viator experiences, and allows for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start of the booking (if the experience does not have an explicit start time, the deadline to request a change or to cancel will generally be 11:59 pm in the provider’s timezone, two days before the start date).

‘All Sales Final’ and ‘Non-Standard’ bookings impacted by COVID-19 ‘All Sales Final’ and ‘Non-Standard’ applies to a small number of products with stricter cancellation and refund policies. However, given the health and safety risks of COVID-19, we’ll be offering full refunds on all impacted bookings with these cancellation policies, for travel occurring through May 31st, 2020.